


arthur

by romanticalgirl



Series: December Ficlets 2007 [15]
Category: King Arthur (2004)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-17
Updated: 2013-03-17
Packaged: 2017-12-05 13:14:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/723690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romanticalgirl/pseuds/romanticalgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Originally posted 12-18-07</p>
    </blockquote>





	arthur

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted 12-18-07

There are allowances made after his marriage that Arthur thinks are not unlike the ones he made for his knights. There are strange prayers offered up to Gods in which he does not believe, and there are rituals he does not understand. He views them all the way a benevolent father views his children’s games with a slight smile and a rueful shake of his head. 

But he does not stop or challenge them, does not even mention them to his wife or Merlin as they discuss their Gods and beliefs, as they describe the wind’s howl as though it is a creature worthy of respect and not the whim of hot and cold air stirred up in a storm. He sees the hand of God where they see myth and legend, creatures and ghosts.

There are moments, though, that he sees the same things they speak of, when he sees faces in the wind and hears voices in the roar of the thunder, dark eyes from the darkness though no one is there. He suffers through them until he is alone and can find solace in the small chapel. God holds less wonder for him now, and more respect. He knows that men choose their own path, as he has done. He has chosen and it is not the way he has been taught to follow.

He did not learn that from priests and popes. He learned that from the men who proved more deserving of his faith. He stands at his altar and lights candles for each of them, more fallen than still survive. His table is nearly empty of the faces he once knew, now populated with eager men determined to forge a new land in his name. He whispers the names of his knights as the candles come to life and offers up a prayer – to God, to Gods – asking for peace, for forgiveness.


End file.
